You just stepped out of Vault 111. The sun is blinding, your spouse is dead, and your kid is missing. Most people just start running toward the first map marker they see. Don't do that. Honestly, the biggest mistake players make in the first hour is thinking this is a linear shooter where you just follow the breadcrumbs. It isn't. If you treat it like Call of Duty, you'll be out of stimpaks and ammo before you even hit Diamond City. This Fallout 4 game guide is about slowing down. It's about realizing that the rusted-out car next to you probably has a lunchbox behind the tire with a bottlecap mine that'll save your life later.
The Commonwealth is mean. It doesn't care if you're the "Sole Survivor." To the guy with the pipe rifle hiding in the Concord hardware store, you’re just a walking loot crate.
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Your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats are a Permanent Choice (Sorta)
Listen, you can’t just "fix" a bad build easily later on. While you get a perk point every level, the base stats you pick at the start dictate your entire playstyle for the next fifty hours. If you put 10 points into Strength but want to be a sniper, you've basically shot yourself in the foot.
Charisma is the sleeper hit here. A lot of people ignore it because they want to shoot things better. Big mistake. Having a high Charisma (around 6 for the Local Leader perk) is the difference between a struggling hovel and a thriving empire. You need those supply lines. Without them, you’re lugging 500 pounds of desk fans and wonderglue across a radioactive swamp just to build a bed. It’s tedious. It's soul-crushing. Just get the perk.
Intelligence also matters more than you think. It's not just about dialogue. It controls your XP gain. Every single point in Intelligence gives you a 3% boost to experience points earned. If you start with 10 Intelligence, you’re leveling up significantly faster than the guy who went "Idiot Savant" with 1 Intelligence. Both are viable, sure. But the high-INT route gives you access to Science! and Chemist, which are basically required if you want to use Power Armor or make your own drugs. And you definitely want to make your own drugs. Jet is basically a "get out of jail free" card when a Deathclaw is mid-lunge.
Why Settlement Building is Not Optional (Despite What People Say)
You'll hear plenty of players complain that Preston Garvey is annoying. He is. "Another settlement needs our help" has become a literal meme for a reason. But here is the thing: settlements are your save points in Survival Mode and your bank accounts in regular play.
Focus on Sanctuary and Red Rocket early. You don't need a mansion. You need water purifiers. Lots of them. Industrial water purifiers produce "Purified Water" in your settlement workbench every day. This isn't just for drinking. It’s currency. It’s better than caps. You can trade water for ammo, legendary weapons, and shipments of ballistic fiber. It’s a literal infinite money glitch that Bethesda just... left in the game.
The Art of the Scrap
Stop picking up everything. You don't need every burnt book and empty beer bottle. You need:
- Adhesive (Duct tape, Wonderglue)
- Aluminum (Trays, cans, surgical trays)
- Screws (Desk fans, toy cars, typewriters)
- Oil (Lighters, blowtorch, oil cans)
If an item doesn't have those, maybe leave it. Unless it's a legendary. Always take the legendary. Even if it's a "ghoul-slayer's gamma gun" (which is useless since gamma guns heal ghouls), you can sell it.
Weapons: Stop Using Pipe Guns Immediately
Pipe guns are garbage. They look cool in a post-apocalyptic way, but their damage scaling is pathetic. As soon as you can, get to Vault 81. It’s west of Diamond City. You’ll need three fusion cores to get in, or a high enough charisma to talk your way past the guards. Inside, a trader named Alexis sells a gun called "Overseer’s Guardian."
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It’s a combat rifle that fires an additional projectile. It’s broken. It's arguably the best non-random weapon in the game. It uses .45 ammo, which is everywhere. If you get this gun at level 15, you can beat the game with it. No joke.
Then there is the "Deliverer." You get this from the Railroad. It’s a suppressed 10mm pistol that uses almost no Action Points in V.A.T.S. If you're going for a stealth build, this is your holy grail. Pair it with the "Sandman" and "Ninja" perks, and you’re basically a ghost that deletes entire rooms of Raiders before they even finish their dialogue.
The Power Armor Dilemma
The game gives you a T-45 suit and a Minigun in the first twenty minutes. This is a trap. It makes you feel invincible. Then you run out of Fusion Cores and 5mm ammo, and you’re stuck walking like a turtle in a heavy metal coffin.
Save your Power Armor for big fights. Glowing Sea? Yes. Attacking a Super Mutant stronghold? Yes. Walking to the shops? No.
Pro tip: if you see an enemy in Power Armor, don't shoot their chest. Shoot the Fusion Core in the back. If you hit it, it overheats, forces them to eject, and then explodes like a mini-nuke. Now you have a free frame and a pile of armor pieces. It's much more efficient than trying to punch through three inches of T-60 plating.
Companion Mechanics You Probably Missed
Companions aren't just pack mules. They have "Affinity." When you max out their affinity, you get a permanent perk.
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- MacCready: Gives you a massive boost to headshot accuracy in V.A.T.S.
- Piper: Gives you double XP for discovering new locations and successful speech checks. Get her early.
- Danse: Gives you 20% more damage against Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths.
You don't have to keep them with you forever. Once you earn the perk, it’s yours for the rest of the game, even if you dismiss them and go solo. And honestly, solo play with the "Lone Wanderer" perk is often stronger than having an AI teammate who constantly walks into your line of fire or falls off a bridge.
Survival Mode is the Real Fallout 4
If you’re finding the game too easy, turn on Survival Mode. It changes everything. Fast travel is disabled. You have to eat, drink, and sleep. Diseases are real. A nibble from a radioactive rat can give you a fever that slowly drains your health.
In this mode, the Fallout 4 game guide strategy shifts from "kill everything" to "don't get hit." You will die in two shots. You'll spend thirty minutes sneaking around a camp only to realize you don't have enough ammo to finish the job. It turns the game into a horror-survival experience. It's frustrating. It's brutal. It's the best way to play the game if you want to actually feel the "wasteland" vibe.
Dealing with the Factions
The game eventually forces you to choose between the Minutemen, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Railroad, and the Institute.
Don't rush this.
You can play almost 80% of the game while being "friends" with all of them. Do their radiant quests. Take their gear. Buy their unique items. The game will clearly warn you when a mission will make you an enemy of another faction. Until that pop-up appears, be a double (or triple) agent. The Brotherhood has the best armor, the Institute has the best teleportation (handy in Survival!), and the Railroad has Ballistic Weave—an armor mod that lets you turn regular clothes into tank-grade protection.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough
Ready to jump back in? Here is exactly what you should do in your first two hours to set yourself up for success:
- Scrap Sanctuary completely. Don't leave a single ruined house or yellow picket fence standing. Store all that wood and steel in your workbench.
- Build 10-15 water purifiers in the river behind Sanctuary. You’ll need a generator for each or one big one. This is your bank account.
- Head to the Robotics Disposal Ground northeast of Sanctuary. There is a Fat Man launcher and a sentry bot you can activate. It makes the early game a breeze.
- Find the "Covert Operations" manuals. There are ten in total. They make you harder to detect. Stealth is the most powerful "class" in Fallout 4, hands down.
- Check every bathroom mirror. Seriously. That's where the Mentats and Stimpacks are. People always forget to check the mirrors.
- Use the "You're SPECIAL" book in your old house in Sanctuary. It gives you a free point in any stat. If you use it while your stats are already buffed by a chem, you can actually push a stat past 10 permanently.
The Commonwealth doesn't give handouts. You have to take what you need and scrap the rest. Keep your eyes open, keep your gun loaded, and for the love of God, watch out for the suicide bombers with the beeping mini-nukes. You'll hear them before you see them. When you hear that beep, run. Don't look back. Just run.